LYNDHURST — A 44-year-old township man is being held on $350,000 bail after being accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl over the course of several years.

Bergen Prosecutor John Molinelli said that James J. Gizzo was arrested on Tuesday after the girl disclosed the abuse to a friend. The friend told her mother, who alerted the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Molinelli said.

An investigation conducted by the Lyndhurst Police Department and Special Victims Unit led to charges including aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor.

"The sexual abuse was alleged to have occurred on numerous occasions over the course of the last five to six years," Molinelli said.

Gizzo, who was listed as married and unemployed, is being held at the Bergen County Jail, and has been ordered to surrender his passport and refrain from any contact with the young girl.